Seven Flowers for my Flower
by kaileena7
Summary: Seven short ficlets on the way Lily and James' relationship evolves, using the flowers that he gives her throughout their Hogwarts years as a parallel.
1. Snapdragon

**Snapdragon**

**Disclaimer: Any characters or locations you recognise belong to J.K. Rowling.**

_"All the flowers of all the tomorrows are in the seeds of today."_ Unknown

The first gift that young James Potter ever gave to Lily Evans was a flower. An antirrhinum to be exact, though at that time he didn't know that antirrhinum was its proper name. When he was a child he knew of them as snapdragons – that's what the kids around him called them.

As a bright and extremely energetic (often more than his parents could handle) young wizard, James was quite fascinated with the snapdragons. He thought that flowers were generally girly but the snapdragons were cool. They looked a bit like a rabbit's or a dog's mouth and if you pressed the flower at the base you could make them open and close so that it looked like a barking dog. Indeed, a whole lot of hours during his first year at Hogwarts were spent inventing a charm so that they bark by themselves and follow innocent victims around. Not that they were particularly scary (except for poor Frank Longbottom who got to be forever known as the boy who runs from flowers) but James often found silly little things infinitely amusing.

When he made his first walk around the Hogwarts grounds he found it particularly pleasing to see that a multitude of snapdragons were blooming. Not that it was that surprising, mind you - after all James was studying at the best magical school in the world, got into the best house and had already found a best friend, too. The world seemed to favour James Potter (going as far as to provide him with the flower for his pranks) and he liked it that way. So, he picked up a pink-yellow snapdragon, put it in his pocket and made his way for the Gryffindor tower to try and charm it without anyone seeing his endeavours.

It was early autumn and the castle was mostly empty since the majority of the upper years were at Hogsmeade. Oh, how much James wanted to see the magical village! He was pretty sure though that he and Sirius would find a way to go there before they reached third year. They liked to explore the ancient castle and its intricate secret passages and if anyone was to discover a possible hidden way out of Hogwarts, it would most certainly be them.

As James reached the entrance to the common room, he was reminded of the horrible portrait that guarded it. The Fat Lady (a nickname she did not appreciate in the least) was always eager to demonstrate her singing talents – or lack thereof – in front of the students.

"Helios", he said the password, glad that the Fat Lady didn't seem to be in a singing mood.

Thanking Merlin's left sock for his luck, he entered the common room and looked around. It seemed to be as dead as a graveyard, except for a red-haired girl sitting in the far end and from the looks of it doing her homework. At closer inspection, her eyes seemed a bit red and puffy, too. That put James in a hard situation. He did not know her well enough to console her (he remembered her as Lily Evans from his classes and she seemed a bit like a know-it-all) but at the same time his young mind, still full of stories of brave princes saving beautiful princesses, told him that it was extremely un-brave to not help a crying girl. So, he approached her.

"Hey, you're Lily Evans, right? We have class together." he greeted.

"Um... yes, hi," she replied, remembering him as the boy who put a dead frog in the hair of her friend Severus. "What do you want?"

Her reply was a bit too cold and that would have probably put off any ordinary boy at his age. But James Potter did not like to think of himself as an ordinary boy. Though, he was at a bit of a loss now. She didn't seem to want any consolation from him. As an old habit, he put his hands in his pockets.

"Well," he started. All of a sudden, he touched the flower in his pocket. No, he was apparently not good at consoling girls. He was even not that good at talking to them. He certainly was not as charming as Sirius. But there was one thing that he excelled at – _lies_. "I brought you something." he said while taking the snapdragon from his pocked.

Lily eyed the flower suspiciously – was that another one of his pranks?

"No, thanks."

"I picked it up for you. I'll leave it here if you don't want it." he added quickly, simultaneously proving that the only thing faster in the universe than the speed of light was probably the speed of lies. He put the snapdragon gently at the table in front of Lily and turned around on his way to the boy's dormitories.

When James opened the door to his room, he remembered that he actually had better plans with the snapdragon. For a short while, he wondered whether to go and take it back. There was something though, something in the way Lily's green eyes sparkled, something in the way she scrunched her freckles-kissed nose at him... something that made him wonder. If James had not been so young, this something may have been called love at first sight. But he was a bit too inexperienced for such strong feelings, he knew that. What he didn't know, though, was that from this day onwards a little part of him had changed forever.

It was not until the end of autumn that James remembered he had plans to wreak havoc in Hogwarts with barking snapdragons.

* * *

Hours later, Lily sat on her bed in the girl's dormitory playing in her hands with the snapdragon that James had given her. She was feeling both flattered and angry - an emotional range that undeniably only girls could pull off. The snapdragon in her hand was the first flower she had received from a boy in her life. Sure, Severus was her best friend but in all the years she had known him, he had never given her a flower. He was just not that kind of person. But did it really have to be the annoying git James Potter to be the first one to give her a flower? The boy seemed unable to take anything seriously at all. And yet, when he obviously saw her distressed in the common room, he tried to cheer her up. She suspected that the flower was not originally meant for her but was also a tiny bit impressed (not that she would ever admit it) that he parted with it for her - simple ordinary Muggleborn Lily.

Sure, later in the evening, any warm feelings that she had toward James disappeared when he accidentally spilled strawberry jam on her and claimed that it suited her hair. But it was a fact of life that the pink and yellow snapdragon, charmed with an everlasting spell, stayed in the top drawer of Lily Evans' nightstand for all seven years at Hogwarts.

_**Author's note: I did not plan to write this so soon after my other fic (check it out, it's pure crack fun), but my idea just screamed at me – "Write me! Write me!" And who am I to argue with inspiration? I want to note that I normally don't dwell in the genre of romance fanfiction. But this, while purposely fluffy, is meant more to be a quirky introspection about how Lily and James's relationship evolves through the years. If you like it or if you have constructive criticism, please, feel free to drop a review. There are, as you can guess, 6 more chapters and flowers planned. Cheers : )**_


	2. Violet

**Violet**

**Disclaimer: Any characters or locations you recognise belong to J.K. Rowling.**

"_Forgiveness is the fragrance that the violet sheds on the heel that has crushed it.__"__ Mark Twain_

"_Where, like a pillow on a bed, / A pregnant bank swelled up, to rest / The violet's reclining head, / Sat we two, one another's best.__"__ John Donne_

The second flower James Potter gave to Lily Evans was a violet. Just as his first gift to her, this one was also not premeditated but James knew that when an opportunity appeared on the horizon, you had to grab it by the collar and never let go.

It was a busy Monday morning in Hogwarts and most of the students were having breakfast in the Great Hall. On the Gryffindor table, Sirius Black was chatting with his friends Remus Lupin and Peter Pettigrew. He was also wondering where their last partner in crime and unofficial leader James Potter was. It was not in James' nature to skip breakfast (or any other meal for that matter). Sirius did not have to wonder much longer, though. Not a minute had passed when the doors of the Great Hall opened and James Potter himself entered. His hair was disheveled, his glasses were a bit crooked and in short he looked like a Hippogriff attack survivor. Nevertheless, he had a wide grin on his face.

"James, my dearest friend, who or what attacked you?" asked Sirius.

James looked at him disapprovingly. "No one attacked me. I went for a morning fly with my broom."

"Riiight. And why did you feel the particular need to go flying at 7:30 in the winter?"

"Didn't I tell you? Henry Dawson, one of the Gryffindor chasers, got a nasty case of pixie fever. The Quidditch team needs a back-up chaser. The tryouts are on Saturday and I need to be in my best shape."

"Do you think they'll take you, a second year?" inquired Remus.

"Ha! Of course, they'll take me," answered James with a determination that could probably crush mountains given the chance. "Who would say no to the wonderful, amazing and brilliant James Potter? The only reason I'm not on the team yet is that they had all their chaser positions filled at the beginning of the year."

"Have you ever though that the reason that you are not on the team is because your broom cannot fly with you and your big ego on it?" the voice of one Lily Evans came from behind him.

James turned around and gave her one of his trademark smiles. "Good morning, lovely Evans. Why don't you join our wonderful group of Gryffindor knights for breakfast?"

Lily snorted at him. "Ha, more like the Knights of the very poorly constructed Round Table, if you ask me. I am already finished, and for you information, I think you should take a shower before going to class. You smell like something fowl died on you."

"Oh my, thank you! You smell lovely, too!"

Truth to be told, James really thought that she smelled lovely. It was some flowery scent that he just couldn't put a name on at the moment. Pity that she didn't want to have breakfast with him. She certainly didn't need to be so bitter that yesterday he and Sirius turned Snape's hair fluorescent pink. In a very weird way, it suited him perfectly.

"James. James." Sirius nudged his friend. "Get up, we'll be late for Minnie."

* * *

The four boys arrived just in time so that James could take a seat behind Lily Evans.

"Now, children, today we will discuss and perform non-associative transfiguration. Non-associative transfiguration means that we are transfiguring objects that do not share the material, visual or any other properties with the subject of transfiguration. As some of you may remember," Prof. McGonagall looked at Peter with an expression of unmistakable doubt. "Up to this point, we transfigured objects that share some similarities – an example of that would be the transformation of the pincushion with needles into a hedgehog. But if the objects are inherently very different or do not subconsciously remind the wizard or witch of their transfiguration goal, it is a great deal harder."

"I do not expect many of you to succeed on the first try but that does not mean that I will tolerate slacking. Now, come to my desk and take a button each. We'll be transfiguring the buttons into flowers. While I do not require a particular flower, since it will be easier for you to conjure what is currently on your mind," at this point of time she grimaced a little bit. "I swear, if I see one more rose in this class, I am going to send you to weed Professor Sprout's Snarling Rosebushes."

Some people in the room eyed each other nervously. Indeed, they were thinking of roses, especially the boys who as a whole were not very familiar with the existing flora. James on the other hand had an expression of utmost determination. His friends did not know yet, but he had a plan... Earlier this year, he and Sirius (and subsequently Peter) had figured out that their friend Remus was a werewolf. While Remus himself was amazed and flattered beyond belief that he had found friends that would accept him for whom he was, James did not deem their mere acceptance enough. Despite his roughish prankster (sometimes even a little cruel) exterior, he was a boy of a genuinely good heart. That was why he came up with the idea that he, Sirius and Peter become Animagi and follow their friend on the nights of the full moon. There was a only a tiny little flaw to that plan – Animagus transformation was extremely advanced transfiguration magic. And that was the reason why he read a thousand transfiguration books. He tried harder than in any other subject. Unlike in other classes, he was always listening to McGonagall. And he was definitely going to transfigure that stupid button today.

Better said than done, though. No matter how much he was imagining the snapdragon in his mind (after all, he had experience with charming them, shouldn't be too hard to transfigure one) the button continued to remain indignantly button-y. Next to him, Sirius had managed to grow thorns from his button, which garnered him a disapproving look from McGonagall.

James closed his eyes for a second and tried to remember her instructions. She said something about subconsciously having the object in mind. _Easy then - aren't we all masters of our inner repressed thoughts?_

Minutes passed and passed, but no one had transfigured a flower yet (_"And no Mister Black, the Button thorn is most certainly not a certified species of the plant kingdom."). _By this point, James was getting really exasperated. His mind started to wander toward the red-haired wonder sitting in front of him. Why was she friends with that git Snape anyway? He didn't even wash his greasy hair for Merlin's sake! Speaking of hair, it seemed that Lily's nice smell came from her hair. Probably her shampoo. It was so intoxicating, but what was it? Something sweet, something that his mother used to give flavour to his favourite pie... But he was digressing, back to the flower. He swished his wand again, muttered the spell and to his great surprise, the button transformed into a pretty violet.

"My, Potter, I cannot believe you managed in the first lesson. Ten points to Gryffindor." McGonagall sounded extremely surprised, too, though her expression was one of a proud mother hen. The class stared back suspiciously at James.

"Oh mate, a violet. I bet you were thinking of that old violet candy." Sirius laughed at him.

When the class ended, James was the only one to have managed to transfigure his button. He now knew what Lily's hair smelled of – violets. Maybe he should give her the flower as a thank you gift, but what was he going to say to her? I transformed the button into the smell of your shampoo, but no, I am not some kind of a stalker.

He nudged Sirius. "Hey mate, can you do me a favour? When you go out of the classroom, can you "accidentally" spill Evans' ink bottle and maybe push her books to the ground?"

Sirius eyed him with a look that clearly said 'You've finally lost your marbles.', but on his way out did so anyway. As planned, Lily started screaming at him ("You big-headed chimpanzee!") and had to stay behind to clean up and collect her stuff. While she was picking a book from the ground, James quickly left the violet on her desk and ran for the door.

All in all, James was pleased. He clearly was the best in Transfiguration for the moment and he did not doubt that some day in the future, they would be able to accompany Remus as Animagi in the nights of the full moon. But today, when he gave Lily the violet, another desire was born in him – to impress her. During the course of the years, James would pursue this goal with passion and zeal that few people this side of the universe possess. After all, he wanted _**her**_ to see that he was better than anyone else. Thus, in a strange and unexpected way, Lily made him better.

When Lily collected her books from the floor, she was surprised to see James' transfigured violet on her desk. She thought that he wanted to gloat over the fact that he could transfigure it while she couldn't. What was even more surprising, though, was that violet was the smell of her shampoo. She wondered whether it was a pure coincidence... well, she was throwing away that shampoo anyways. It reminded her of the happy summers of her childhood when she and her sister played in their garden full of violets. Since Lily found out that she was a witch, Petunia was continuously growing colder and crueler towards her little sister, enough to make Lily often cry in her bed in the Gryffindor dormitory. Yes, she certainly did not need the smell of violets in her shampoo to remind her of the increasing rift between her and her sister. First thing after classes – get rid of the horrible thing.

In the years that followed, Lily's roommate Alice was often puzzled why Lily would always charm her shampoo to smell like violets.

_**Author's note: Sooo, you may have noticed the two quotes that I used this time in the beginning. That is due to the fact that I liked them both very much and while one illustrates Lily's memory with Petunia, the other one connects her more to James. I hope you liked this chapter and I want to thank you all so much for the reviews, alerts and favourites! You really made me happy. So... till next time and don't feel shy – voice your opinion in the reviews ;))**_


	3. Peony

**Peony**

"_I am a peony blooming with open wounds, / I drink shallowly from your vase." Unknown translation_

The third flower that James Potter gave to Lily Evans was a blood red peony. The flower was meant as a victory gift for his first match as an official member of the Gryffindor Quidditch team. However, as it often happens in life, his plan did not go exactly as intended.

It was late autumn and the view from the windows of the Gryffindor tower was breathtaking. The fallen leaves from the trees were carried by the autumn breeze in a whirlwind of exploding colours – molten golds, coffee browns and just a touch of enticing reds. But James Potter was not in the mood for appreciating such picturesque moments. The first Quidditch match of the year was upon him and he was fidgeting nervously in his room. He tried every known method to calm his nerves – he even tried stealing a Calming draught from the Hospital wing (that didn't go well) but nothing seemed to work. Everyone around was telling him left and right that he was brilliant. Instead of helping him, this made him, if possible, even more nervous. What if he played horribly? If he didn't score a single point? They were going to be so disappointed in him.

It was in a moment of complete and utter desperation when James thought of something that every sports player on Earth, be it wizard or Muggle, eventually embraces. He needed a good luck charm for the match. He needed to find some constant in his life that seemed to get him on the favourable side of destiny. James frowned. His thoughts drifted to recent events – what was the common factor? Not the slightest idea... and then – 'Lily!'. Every time he saw the red-haired wonder, good things seemed to happen to him (apart from being on the receiving end of her hexes). He was inspired for new pranks, he did better in class (he didn't take in account that the reason for this was probably to impress her) and life as a whole seemed a little bit brighter. And it was a perfect situation – Evans, albeit not a big fan of Quidditch, was a fierce supporter of Gryffindor and was always at the matches. She was going to be his lucky charm! And he - just like a valiant knight after a tournament was going to present her with a flower as a token of his victory after the match. Now... where to find a flower?

As the sun slowly set behind the trees of the Forbidden Forest, James took out his invisibility cloak and prepared to go on a search for a flower in the Greenhouses. He silently hoped that he could find something there that was not murderously inclined (like most of the plants that Professor Sprout kept). Night fell and he made it out of the castle carefully avoiding prefect patrols. When he reached the Greenhouses, he slipped off the invisibility cloak and began looking around for a suitable flower. Sleeping mandrakes, bubotubers, dittany, puffapods... maybe this was not a good idea after all. What was he thinking when he decided that the greenhouse was a good place to find a pretty flower? He had been in all Herbology classes (ok, maybe not all of them) and not one time had they dealt with a plant that was not out get you. Or maybe... in the corner of his eye, James spotted a bed of bright red flowers. On closer inspection, he concluded that they were poppies – perfect! A red flower for his Gryffindor-red, red-haired lucky charm! Just as James was going to pluck a poppy, he heard a voice from behind that made him jump and almost turn over a flower pot.

"Mister Potter, what are you doing out of the castle, in _my_ Greenhouse after curfew?" Professor Sprouts' voice echoed.

Oh well, wasn't life just cruel. "I am... uhm..."

There were those time that lies were the way to go. And yet, there were also these rare moments where the truth was better. Professor Sprout was one of the kindest teachers in Hogwarts and she probably wouldn't be so mad... _probably_.

"I have this match tomorrow, and... I couldn't sleep and... I decided to get a flower for this girl..."

Professor Sprout's frown disappeared and was replaced with a conspiratorial smile.

"Which girl?"

"Lily Evans, the Gryffindor?" James muttered.

"Ooh... but of course. Such a nice girl, always polite and so smart. A bit too fond of throwing hexes at you though, don't you think?" she winked at him. "But why would you want to give her poppies?"

"Well... they were the only thing around here that wouldn't attack Lily, if you get what I mean." chuckled James nervously. "And they are Gryffindor's colour."

"No, no, no. Poppies are an absolutely bad idea for a special gift for a girl. They are used in sleep-inducing Potions and in many cultures symbolize sleep and death. I actually was keeping those for Horace, he'll need them for the fifth years."

"I wasn't aware of that. Not the best gift then." James concluded.

"But you know, you are such a sweet boy – trying to find a perfect flower for your special girl. Coincidentally, I have just the right thing for you. Wait here."

Professor Sprout disappeared in a small compartment of the greenhouse that he had never been in before. James suspected that it was her personal garden. A few minutes passed and when the elderly witch came back she had another red flower in her hand.

"This is a peony. I know for a fact that girls love them and they are also said to bring luck." she handed the flower to him.

James on the other hand could not believe his own luck at the moment. Life had turned its kinder side towards him. "Thank you, Professor. I really appreciate this."

"Now go," she said with a grin. "We don't want anyone else seeing you out after curfew, do we?"

James was at the door of the greenhouse when he heard Professor Sprout call him one more time.

"And Potter – don't forget, Monday 8 o'clock in the evening – detention in the greenhouses. I think you need to learn a bit more about the fine art of Herbology."

* * *

Despite James' newfound confidence in himself, the match did not go that well. While he managed to score some spectacular goals against the Slytherin team, halfway through the game he was viciously hit by both Bludgers. He woke up lying in a bed in the Hospital Wing with Sirius at his side.

"Hey mate, are you alright?" Sirius asked cautiously.

"I was hit by a Bludger, do you think I am alright?" retorted James.

"Actually, my dear Jamesy, you were hit by two Bludgers. The Slytherin beaters noticed how good you are and, of course, they played dirty, the sneaky gits."

Suddenly, James remembered. "What happened? Did we lose?"

"No need to be so negative, Gryffindor won." Sirius started. "You've got a good seeker this year, managed to get the Snitch before the goal difference became too big."

James significantly brightened after hearing that they had won. Still, Sirius could see some... _disappointment _on his friend's face.

"Why the gloom, James? You won, you were brilliant on that broom and I know that you don't care that much for a broken bone or two."

There was a long pause during which James seemed to weigh his options. "You'll laugh if I tell you."

"Try me."

Of course, after hearing James' explanation of the flower that he wanted to give after the match to Lily, Sirius erupted into hysterical laughter.

"Thanks, Sirius. I knew I could count on your support." James pouted.

"But... but..." Sirius had trouble stopping his laughter. "Ok, I am stopping now. But really, how could you think of that Evans girl being your lucky charm? She is always with Snivellus."

"Doesn't matter now," James sighed. "She wasn't my lucky charm. Look what happened to me."

"Are you serious?" Sirius snickered at his favourite (grossly overused) pun."I mean, although I think you are completely bonkers of thinking of that in the first place, but Lily really was your lucky charm. You won, you were great, and you know what else? If you hadn't turned around to take a look at Lily (yes, I noticed) at that exact moment , you wouldn't have seen Avery's bludger which was aimed for your head. You could have been dead now, or injured much worse, so yeah... Lily is indeed your lucky charm."

James looked at him incredulously. Sometimes, rarely, his friend could still surprise him. He knew that Sirius wasn't on the friendliest of terms with Lily, but he put aside his doubts for her to cheer him up. Sirius was really one of a kind.

"Tell you what, James. The flower is on your bed stand, right? I'll go get it and I'll give it to Evans when I see her. It'd be a wasted opportunity and you are not going out of the Hospital Wing for a few days."

Later that night, James was lying awake in his bed, thinking. These days have been quite eventful. He got caught in the greenhouse, but he got in return the perfect flower for Lily. He was hit by bludgers, but he flew marvelously. He couldn't give the peony to Lily, but he had the best friend in the world to do that for him. '_Truly,' he thought. 'Life was cruel and life was kind.'_

* * *

The next day, Sirius caught Lily in the corridor before their Potions class.

"Evans, can I have a word with you." he asked.

"What do you want, Black" she snapped at him.

"No need to take out the claws, I come in peace. James asked me to give you this flower as a Gryffindor victory gift." he handed the peony to her.

"I don't want Potter's flowers, thank you."

"Look, doll," Sirius took her hand and put forcefully the peony in it. "He asked me and I am doing it. I don't care what you do with it. Just take it."

Before Lily had a chance to retort, Sirius was already storming down the corridor.

She looked distastefully at the flower. _'Such arrogance,' she thought. 'Potter continuously mocks my red hair, he hexes Severus at every turn and he thinks that a won match and a flower are going to change my opinion about him?'_

Lily examined the flower. It was a peony, no doubt. A bright red flower that her grandmother kept in her backyard to make medicine from its roots. '_Wait a second, medicine? I need one more plant uncommon to be used by wizards for my Potion's essay on healing potions! How didn't I think of that before?' _She took out her parchment from her bag and scribbled on it furiously. Finally finished, the perfect O-worthy essay. Who knew that James Potter was her lucky charm?

**A/N 1: Fun fact – peonies are also associated with devil-may-care attitude and general disregard for rules. Remind you of anyone?**

**A/N 2: I hope you liked this one, I think it came out exactly as I wanted. I wanted to accent the importance of someone's friends in a relationship – best friends always got your back... bro-style ;) I also want to thank you all for the story favourites and alerts, you are great! Special thanks to belly buttons and ****stars-and-sons**** for the reviews – you made my day! Belly buttons – I told you that I was going to do poppies at some point. That chapter was initially intended to be poppies, but they have such macabre symbolism that I decided against it. But I still included them... kind of! Now... you all know the drill – drop me a review : ) **


	4. Rose

**Rose**

_"__...a__ rose by any other name would smell as sweet"_ William Shakespeare (Romeo and Juliet)

"_The birds love 'em roses, mate. There is no way you can ever go wrong with a rose."_ Sirius Black the Wise (moments before he was proven dreadfully wrong)

The fourth flower James Potter gave to Lily Evans was a rose. That may seem a bit on the uncreative side but the boy, being James Potter, managed to infuse the gift with the quirky uniqueness that was so characteristic for him.

It was the afternoon before Valentine's Day and Hogwarts was bursting with the nervousness and excitement usually present before that special day. Or, in other words, love was spreading in the air faster than an airborne virus of alien origin.

This of course, had a particular effect on the teenage boys at Hogwarts – their hormones were raging wildly even without the impending Valentine's Day. That is why this particular conversation about gifts was transpiring in the fourth year's Gryffindor dormitory:

"I mean, I don't even need to send such a cliché thing as gifts and flowers! Which girl could possibly resist the charms of James Potter?" he puffed his chest a bit.

"How about the only girl that you actually have a crush on?" started Remus, putting aside the book that he was reading. "Red hair, green eyes, her name starts with L and ends in –ily?"

James smirked. "Elilly? Do we have a girl with such a strange name?"

Remus shot him a glare that could cause serious psychological damage to more sensitive people. James, however, merely laughed. "Alright, alright, I am stopping with the jokes. But I mean, I don't think that I have a _crush_ on her. She's just interesting and I love to make her angry. Her reactions are priceless."

"You can call it by any other name you want James, you have a crush on her."

"I dare to disagree with you, Remus. But actually, your idea might not be that bad. I may give her a flower and propose to her to be my Valentine. Evans is a really pretty bird. Imagine me, the handsome Quidditch stud together with the beautiful red-haired Gryffindor girl."

At that point of time, Sirius felt the need to interrupt James' ridiculous fantasies with a well-timed bark laugh. "Oh yes, that will be a sight. Afterwards, you can also become friends with Snivelly and braid each other's hair. And then, we'll be free to call you with the collective name Lames."

"Lames?" James raised an eyebrow.

"You know – when you mix Lily and James, it becomes Lames. A name that will fit you well." Sirius grinned.

"I resent that. What's wrong if I actually want to have a relationship with her? Not all of us strive to be the reigning king of one-week flings, Sirius." James was clearly not amused.

"Oh, so you actually admit that you want to have a relationship with Lily." Remus spoke again.

"Aaargh. You led me into a trap, didn't you, Remus. My evil disciples, I think you may have surpassed your master." said James exasperatedly. He stood up from his bed and started pacing around the room. "We need a plan. How can we find what is her favourite flower? Do you think I should send her a lily?"

"I am sure that she will appreciate the originality of the idea." said Remus dryly. "Why don't you ask one of her roommates about it, I know that you are semi-friendly with Mal?"

"No, she won't know it. She and Evans don't like each other very much."

"How about something universal then?" asked Sirius. "You know, like roses. The birds love 'em roses, mate. There is no way you can ever go wrong with a rose".

At this point, Remus put a hand on his forehead in desperation. Say again, why was he friends with those creative geniuses?

"That actually isn't a half-bad idea. I think I'm going to go with roses." A disconcertingly bright spark appeared in James' eyes." Now... let's discuss the delivery of the Valentine's gift, boys."

* * *

At precisely 8 o'clock on Valentine's Day, one Lily Evans was woken up by a flock of Hogwarts' owls which flew into the girl's dormitory and dropped a multitude of roses on her lovely self. Due to the wonderful thing called collateral damage, the other girls in the room were woken too, mostly by Lily's laughter.

"The roses, oh Merlin! He sent me those roses! James Potter has finally lost the final screws in his brain!" she clutched at her stomach in another fit of laughter. From the other side of the room, her sleepy roommate Mal Perry called her.

"Evans, are you okay? Am I understanding right that a fairly attractive boy sent you roses and now you are laughing hysterically? Methinks that maybe Potter is not the crazy one in this situation."

"No, no, Perry. Get up, look at the flowers more closely!" cried Lily.

Quite reluctantly and sending a few mental curses towards Lily, Mal got out of her bed and went to see why exactly her roommate was making a scene. She almost gasped when she saw what Lily had been laughing at. Now, Mal may have been a witch, a pureblood one at that and still she rarely saw such surrealistic things in her life. A bunch of roses, obviously coloured with magic in all hues and shades of the rainbow, were performing some kind of happy dance on Lily's bed.

"Well, one thing I can say with absolute certainty is that life with James Potter would never be boring." Mal chuckled.

"But they are dancing!" Lily was waving her hands frantically. "They look as if a rainbow vomited on them! And Potter! That nerve! To give me flowers again! On Valentine's Day nonetheless!"

At this point, Mal was wondering how Lily could still speak without catching her breath. No doubt, she had some hidden supernatural power (except from the whole being a witch part).

"Evans, I know that receiving flowers is a traumatic event for any girl, but will you please politely shut up for a second. Let's discuss this," she pointed with her hand. "Exhibit A – your bed, covered with pretty roses from James Potter." She turned to the other side of the room. "Exhibit B – my bed, completely empty, not awaiting any flowers. You _are_ very lucky. And what's more – I know that you know it too. Of course, James annoys you to no end, but tell me frankly – are you not extremely flattered, too?"

Lily quietened and looked down. James was so immature, so proud and arrogant with his pranks and his posse following him everywhere. Yet, at the same time she couldn't help but feel a rushing sensation through her veins whenever she received his undivided attention. Lily would never admit it to Mal, but he made her feel so... so _special_.

Still, she was a bit furious and quite a lot confused and that is why the roses were the one flower from James that she never kept. Funnily, years later when browsing through her personal books, James Potter found a multicoloured rose petal in it. It was serving as a bookmark for one of her favourite novels – Pride and Prejudice. Had he read the book, he may have chuckled a bit at the irony.

**Author's note: Hey, sorry a bit for the delay. I've been busy plus I had a bit of a writer's block. I didn't want to force the chapter though. So, now I've regained my inspiration and I hope you like it! This one is a bit more on the funny side, but it fits for the immature, prankish, git-ish period of James' life. You'll make an author happy if you drop me a review ;)**


	5. Sunflower

**Sunflower**

"_Every friend is to the other a sun, and a sunflower also. He attracts and follows."_ Jean Paul Richter

The fifth flower that James Potter gave to Lily Evans was a blooming sunflower. It was a joyous and thoughtful gift that later turned into a heartfelt apology.

James and Sirius were hurrying for Defense against the Dark Arts and managed to get there just in time. The only open seats were at the second row, just behind Lily Evans and Alice Prewett. That of course, was a lucky arrangement for James, though it rendered a few complaints from Sirius ("Aw, Prongs, seats at the front? Now I'm going to have to listen to you for a whole hour ramble on and on about Evans!").

The Defense teacher was an old and fragile-looking man and was almost always late for his own classes. That gave James the opportunity to listen to the ongoing conversation between Lily and her roommate Alice.

"Lily, that's really so great! I wish you'd take me some time to a Muggle gallery. That Van Gogh guy's paintings sound magnificent!" Alice exclaimed.

"They really are. He is probably my favourite artist. I am glad that mum and dad took me during the holidays to see the visiting exhibition of some of his greatest works. I am not sure if I'd be able to see them again in person." Lily said dreamily. Almost immediately afterwards, Prof. William Gaud entered the classroom, effectively putting an ending to all conversations.

* * *

Defense against the Dark Arts passed monotonously as usual and soon enough the time for lunch came. At the Gryffindor table, one excited boy was telling his new plans for acquiring his love interest to his mates, who have long ago resigned to their fate of having to listen to his ramblings.

"So, guess what I learned today in DADA about Evans." James said in a hushed voice.

"Her hexes are as painful as she is beautiful?" Remus guessed.

"Seriously, Moony, it was only for educational purposes. Lily-flower just wanted to show the professor how good she was." It was questionable whether James wanted to convince his mates or himself. He grabbed another pumpkin pie and stuffed it in his mouth.

"I am not so sure about that Prongsy." Sirius laughed. "If you ask me, she enjoyed that hex a bit too much."

"Guys, please, will you stop this. And no, that wasn't the important information I acquired today. What I learned was that Lily's favourite Muggle artist was someone called Vangoo."

It was at that exact moment that Remus spitted out the pumpkin juice he was drinking and laughter erupted at their part of the table.

"The Muggles have someone called Vangoo. Interesting choice of name." Sirius was now leaning at the table to support himself from falling off the bench.

Remus on the other hand tried to quickly compose himself and with a sly grin on his face said to James. "Are you sure she said Vangoo. Because, you know, I have heard of a Muggle artist called Van Gogh, but Vangoo doesn't ring a bell."

James almost jumped out of his seat, causing several people to look at him strangely (though few of them were surprised. He was famous for his loud outbursts and all around wacky behaviour).

"Yes, that's the one! What do you know about him?"

Remus weighed the pros and cons of telling James about Van Gogh. Well, James was going to found out in one way or another, plus he was sure that something amusing would come out of it.

"Van Gogh is one of the most famous Muggle painters. He is part of the post-impressionist movement and I am sure you can find out more about him in a book about Muggle artists in the library. You may even see some of his paintings in it."

"Moony, my friend, I knew I could always count on your infinite knowledge and wisdom. Unlike this imbecile here." James looked reproachfully at Sirius who was now trying to arrange the food in his plate as some kind of wacky painting. He even labelled it with mustard – Van Padfoot.

James took his school bag and got off his seat. "Gentlemen, I am going to the library to research Van Gogh. I just hope he's better than our friend Van Padfoot here."

When he got in the library, James dropped off his bag on a table and went to the Muggle book section nearby. He wondered whether he could get some useful information about a gift for Lily from the Van Gogh guy. A painting would be too much. Maybe he could order some kind of album with his works? Flourish and Blotts sometimes took orders for Muggle books. Oh my, it seems that few people frequented the Muggle section in the library. The books were covered with dust and he had to brush off some of it in order to see the titles of the books. He saw one labeled _Art through the ages 1300-1900_. Seemed good enough.

Carefully, James took the book off the shelf and carried it to his table. He opened it and started browsing through the pages. There was some seriously weird stuff there. And... a lot nudity, especially in the earlier pages. Just as every other male hormonal teenager, James chuckled at those paintings. Aha! Finally, he found the Van guy and started reading about him.

Hmm, Lily apparently had a weird taste. This Van Gogh sounded like an unusual man. But on the other hand, James was also unusual. Maybe if he cut off an ear, Lily would like it? Stupid idea, it would be too painful, plus he was rather attached to his ear. He has had it for his whole life after all and its absence would ruin the perfection that was James Potter.

On the next page, James found Muggle photos of some of the paintings. Actually, they were kind of good. They weren't... common. They weren't a perfect accurate representation of the real world but rather looked like another reality that the painter himself was seeing and reproducing. Such a beautiful night view... the village kind of reminded him of Hogsmeade. The next picture immediately made the wheels in James' mind start spinning. It was a beautiful painting of a vase of sunflowers. It was emanating such joy of life. Exactly what Lily made James feel – complete and total exuberant joy of life. Maybe he could continue his tradition of giving her flowers and present her with a sunflower. He would write her a card which said _"A sunflower for my sunshine"._ Because... didn't Lily made his life brighter after all?

* * *

Unfortunately, later that day an event occurred that made James' wonderful plan fall into dust.

James and Sirius were enjoying one of their favourite activities – making fun of Severus Snape. Naturally, Lily had to see them and give James a piece of her mind. He had never seen her so angry before, but that didn't stop him from asking her out on a date. Needless to say, that made things worse and the cherry on top was Snape calling Lily a Mudblood. She had said that she didn't want to see any of them ever again.

Presently, James was sitting on his bed in the boys dormitory with his hands on his head.

"How could I do this? It was so stupid. Now Lily is going to hate me forever!" he cried to his concerned friends sitting around him. "But Snivellous is just so... argh! I hate him. He goes around with Evans for five years and he has the guts to call her... call her... that horrible word! And then she tells me that I am the horrible one! Can't she see that I was defending her?"

Remus felt the need to interject. "James, I agree that her reaction was a bit over the top, but admit it, you were way too cruel to Snape this time. You crossed the line."

"And who are you to say this, Moony?" Sirius almost barked. "It's not like you were stopping us, right? That awful git deserved what he got. Always sneaking around, following us, trying to get us expelled, trying to find out your secret! Don't make it sound like he is some innocent victim and we are the bad guys!"

James raised his head. "But in a way we are, aren't we. We are always responding to violence with violence. And he does it again. And then we do it again. The vicious circle never stops."

Sirius looked at him angrily. " James, I don't like what you're implying..."

"I DON'T CARE WHAT YOU HAVE TO SAY, SIRIUS. It doesn't matter anymore – what Snape did, what we did... I lost Lily forever, she is never going to speak to me again." James got up and took the sunflower and the card from his nightstand. "And I put so much thought in this flower. I wanted to show Lily my softer side. But I apparently lack it, so it's pointless. All my efforts – gone to waste in a second."

He went to the desk in their room, scribbled something on the card and stormed out of the dormitory.

* * *

After slamming the door and nearly falling down the stairs, James reached Gryffindor's common room and looked around. Lily was nowhere to be seen but he noticed his friend Mal Perry doing homework in one of the corner. He approached her to ask her to call Lily so that he could apologize.

"Nooo way Jimmy," Mal laughed. "I had to go out of our room because Evans was really fuming. And crying. She's a mess, if I call her right now, she's going to Avada Kedavra you, I guarantee."

"Can she do it?" he asked cautiously. "Nevermind."

"But... just because you are a friend. I can give her your apology present later."

James was a bit surprised. "Why are you helping me? Doesn't it break some girl code and don't you want to know what I did to set her off?"

Mal gave him her best Cheshire cat grin. "Frankly, I don't give a damn about your argument and you know I am not good friends with Evans. I am actually hoping that your present can piss her off a bit more. I do this for my entertainment only."

* * *

A few days later, Lily Evans woke up in her bed in the girl's dormitory. She pushed the heavy blanket from herself and faced the nightstand. A single sunflower with a card was standing on it.

Lily took the card and opened it. There were only two lines written on it. The first one was "You are my sunshine" and it was crossed. The other was "I am so sorry" and it was signed by James Potter. Lily's frustration had subsided since the previous day happenings but his audacity to seek her forgiveness ignited the flames of her anger again. Did James Potter think that it was enough – one flower and that was it, he was forgiven for everything. For every stupid comment in class, for every joke towards her red hair, for every prank on her, for every insult to Severus... no, Severus was Snape now. All because of Potter.

In a fit of anger, Lily took the sunflower and ripped some of its petals. Ha! She couldn't do this to Potter, but at least his flower was now dead meat... metaphorically speaking.

Not a minute had passed though, when Lily - just like a kid who had broken her favourite toy, realised what she did. She had torn a perfectly beautiful sunflower, whose only wrongdoing was falling into the hands of James Potter. Oh no! Maybe she could somehow repair it with a charm! It was such a pretty flower, why did she have to tear it? Plus, Potter had been avoiding her these days. He and his merry men were surprisingly quiet and she hadn't seen him sneak even a glance on her. So she had no reason to be particularly angry with him anymore.

Lily looked again at the sunflower – could it be that she was angry with him for completely avoiding her and not apologising? But he did appologise after all, didn't he? Lily played with the sunflower in her hands for a while and suddenly a horrible thought passed through her mind. She was so used to James' attention by now that without him in her everyday life, she felt just like the sunflower after she tore its petals... _Incomplete._

**Author's note: Hello again! This one is a bit more dramatic. But I just had to tie it somehow with Snape's worst memory! I couldn't leave this big moment in Lily and James' relationship unanswered. Btw, if you are wondering, Mal gave the flower to Lily a few days later, because she was waiting for her to stop being angry with James. Even though she mocked James about it, she isn't so bad. xD**

**So... did you like this one? I am so thankful for all your reviews, you really made my day better! And if I don't post another chapter before Christmas – Happy Holidays to all!**


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